Allen has such a dry sense of humo(u)r! Yes, this is exactly what I meant by "howling." :-) I apologize for not knowing about the distinction between the Times and the Sunday Times.
Good of you to check out who the "experts" were. I was certain this would be the first point of attack, which is why I put the term in scare quotes in my original post. Roger Scruton is a quite well-respected philosopher (though I cannot say I agree with him). The others I must confess to not knowing. (Is this John Gray the now-right/now-left/now-neither political theorist?) I agree that it would have been good of them to include a couple of scientists, but I hardly think that is a requirement for one to be an expert on "Britain." And I must object: Orwell's /1984/, /Animal Farm/, and /Essays/ have nothing "virtually nothing about Britain"? That seems a rather overly-literalist sentiment. Regards, Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ phone: 416-736-2100 ext. 66164 fax: 416-736-5814 ============================== Allen Esterson wrote: > On 29 November 2007 Chris Green wrote: >> Well, this oughta get everyone howling again. An "expert panel" >> was selected by the Times to select just five book that >> "explain Britain." Freud was second, just two places ahead >> of Darwin. Less controversially, Lewis Carroll was 7th. :-) > > http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/art > icle2871028.ece > > Perhaps Chris might explain what he means by his expectation that what he > cites will get "everyone howling" again [sic], and also tell us the > previous occasion when TIPSters were "howling". > > Minor point: This article is in the Sunday Times, not The Times -- the > papers have separate editors and journalists, and are editorially > independent of each other. > > I've checked through the article to see who make up the "expert > panel". The > list is as follows: > Roger Scruton, Daisy Goodwin, Mary Beard, Nicholas Kenyon, AA Gill, > Nicholas Hytner, David Kynaston, Cosmo Landesman, Waldemar Januszczak, > Robert Hewison, Dominic Sandbrook, John Gray, Rod Liddle, John Cornwell, > Simon Jenkins, John Carey, Bryan Appleyard. > > Can any TIPSter identify a single one of these "experts"? I can tell you > it's a motley crew, ranging from a television "personality" to a > philosopher, including journalists, a music critic, a modernist Art > critic, > a restaurant critic and humorist, a couple of academics and so on. Not a > single scientist among them, by the way. (I had to check up on Google for > three of the names.) That these are described as "experts" for the purpose > of choosing books that "explain Britain best" says much about some aspects > of the current standards of even upmarket newspapers in the UK. That the > first four say virtually nothing about *Britain* is a measure of the > fatuousness of this project. From newspapers to the BBC, the media in > Britain seem to be obsessed with lists -- you'll be fascinated to know > that > when the BBC ran a poll to choose "Great Britons" in 2002 (preceded by > programmes devoted to the top ten early favourites), Princess Diana came > third, ahead of Darwin, Shakespeare, Newton, Elisabeth I, Nelson and > Cromwell. (Of course, Elisabeth I would move up the chart if the poll were > to be conducted now, seeing as there have recently been two movies > featuring Cate Blanchett as the Virgin Queen. -:) ) > > Allen Esterson > Former lecturer, Science Department > Southwark College, London > http://www.esterson.org > > --- > > > ---
